Guardians' Jose Ramirez Named Top Third Baseman in MLB

Jose Ramirez is undeniably one of the best players in MLB, but where does he rank in his own position group?

MLB Network recently named the top third baseman in baseball heading into the 2026 season, and the Cleveland Guardians superstar was named as the No. 1 player at the hot corner, according to “The Shredder” model.

This projection system uses "rankings based on past performance, various offensive and defensive metrics (including both advanced statistics and traditional numbers) and analysis by the MLB Network research team, 'The Shredder' produces its list of the 10 best players at each position right now."

José Ramírez notches the top spot on @MLBNow's #Top10RightNow third basemen for the 4th time in his career!

The @CleGuardians star has made the Top 10 every year since 2018 ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/Y0kG5BvBHa

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 5, 2026

So far this year, “The Shredder” has made some interesting decisions in its “top players right now” countdown, such as leaving Steven Kwan off the top-10 left field, but it absolutely nailed it with having Ramirez ranked as the No. 1 third baseman.

Coming off of 2025, Ramirez had a slash line of .283/.360/.503, and his OPS of .862 led all qualified third basemen in all of MLB, not just the American League.

It’s not just Ramirez’s offense that makes him an elite third baseman, though. J-Ram remains one of the top defenders at the hot corner, even through his age-32 season. He ranked in the 93rd percentile in outs above average and the 82nd percentile in fielding run value in 2025.

Ramirez definitely isn’t the underrated player he used to be in his career, but if there’s an area of his game that definitely deserves some more recognition, it’s his defense.

After this most recent ranking, Ramirez has claimed the top spot on MLB Network’s top-10 third basemen three times throughout his career, and has been in the top spot each of the last four seasons. That’s just another nod to the incredible consistency that Ramirez has had throughout his career. 

Comparing Ramirez to the other top third basemen and elite players in baseball makes his new contract extension with the Guardians look that much better and should motivate the front office even more to build a championship-caliber roster around him before it's too late. 

However, the big question is: how long will this production last? Hopefully, the 2026 season will be more of the same for Ramirez, and he will have another MVP-caliber season for the Guardians. 

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